Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-24
WICKED WORK.
A Gang Of Highwaymen Commit q
Daring Robbery on the Texas
and Pacific.
They Capture The Engineer and Fire
man 81 GoTdoa az So Through
the Express and Nail,
But They Fan Make n Heavy HAUL
The Messenger Made tn Open the
DGoE with threats IF Gre nation

Have the days OF Sam Bass come back
again? After an interval Of years Is q new
era of briganddge abou. to open up IN
| Texas? Over month ago the startling
news was heralGed abroad that three IN
masked men, in the open light Of day, had
"held up' passenger train Gu the Fort
Worth and Denver road and coolly CON
dScated the effects Of those on board. 1t
was an awkward, laundering Job, done il
wretched amateur style, VT it was so far
successful that all the agents got
safely away and only. one of them (and
that is not certain) has since been cap
! tured.
Yet this occurrence, bold as it was,
rather pales by contrast with the affair of
yesterday. The Texas and Pacific was
the line, high bridge two miles east of
Gordon aud siXty-eight miles west of Fort
Worth the scene, the mail and express
cars on through train from California
the objects of attack, and seven thieves
and ruttfans the principles in another one
of those audacious episodes which tend
TO show that the heart OF man is as des-
perate, and his will to rob as strong, as
in the days OF Dick Turpiu and Robin
Hood.
THE FIREMAN'S STORY.
What THE GAZETTE CLEANED Of it may
IS well be told IN the language of fireman
Jake W=eman, who saw most of what
tracspired and on whose memory the de-
| tails ere stamped with more than ordinary
vividuess.
eyes, il was my first experience" sGid
Mr.. Weemou, "and it rattled me Slightly,
| I'll admit. We We're due at Gordon,
which Is q small town, at 2:2S, :. NJ,
and were on time The night was in
| tensely dark, 50 dark that | couldn't dis
tinguish the features Of John BerquiSt,
the engineer, three feet away. The
| stop WIS short one, and
we were once more in motion
without thought Of what was about TO
! happen. The train was still going slowly
when saw the form OF Il mAu clanb0-inS
/ up into the engine on the side fartieso
IRON me. Then l became aware of an
other Cne quite near me. | saw the men
| before berquist did. At first it didn't &C
cur TO me that there WIS anything wrong.
! About 200 YARDS down the road was Z Coal
| clute where we always stopped to take
| on fuel, and sometimes the hands working
there rode that distance on the en-
-
and said: 'Vhat &Ie you fellows
doing on here, where are you 60
| ing?' One of them answered: Eve
are just going q little ways down here
But you can't do it, Berquist sad.
THE rules of the company don't allow
it, and he started to stop the engine 10
put them off, when both of them threw
their pistols down on us, and told John i
be wanted to live t. 90 on
"Weil, what could he do under such
conditions? There we were, with moth
ing in the shape of weapon, and even if
we had had forty guns, they would have
been useless. Tley had the drop. We
could do nothing but obey orders. SO
JOnG pulled out, and we flew past the
cOal-chute without taking on q lump.
The fellows said not a word, and
the engineer and | didn't feel il
i very taikgtige humor with two big pis-
tots close to our hesds. Two miles froa
Gordon tne track crosses Berton's creek,
over one Of the highest bridges on the
whole road. We were airing this when
by the gleam Of the headlight We could
see 3 pile Of rocks OlStrEctiu1 me rack,
few rods from the further end Uf the
Lrestle. Then the robber that had done
all tie talking told Us to come to halt,
an ord not very necessary on account Of
the obstructi n.
MORE ROBBERS ON TIE SCENE.
awe passed over slowly, the engine,
tender, baggage and mail cars only get
ting entirely across, the coaches and
sleeper resting on the bridge and the
steep embaDkment beyond. As we came
to halt four or five men, can't say pre-
cisely which, came up to the engine and
called US to get down. The pair with us,
who had never taken their guns down,
repeated the order saying they would
blow cur heads of if We didn't, so down
we climbed. AS l said before, it was
pitch dark and il was impossible to tell
how the men looked. The two en- the
engine were both big fellows. They kept
close to US, keeping US in the midst CT then
while ne proceeded to the express CIR
The side door was shut fast, and there
we're no end doors They yelled TO the
messenger to open the door quick, and as
he didn't do it, commenced firing through
the car. | guess they fired dozen or
more rounds before he opened it. [ heard
them say, If the d dog don't open it
We'll burn the car and roast him alive.
We've got to have that money When
he opened 1t thee or four OF them went
IL OOn hHOh S-sC-S IbSJ gu IL was
too dark to see anything.
"Then they went to the mail car and
went through it too, but l have no idea
OF what they took there. !
think one or two Of the men had
on masks bat it is difficult to state
positively. am certain the men on the
engine with US wore no masks. The
darkness was disguise enough Idon't
think Ia know either one CT them
again"
WHAT THEY TOOK.
The above is in substance the fireman's
story. 1t WIGS corroborated in every
point By the statement of
Engineer BeIquist. All sorts of stories
having got abroad as to how much the
robbers got, 4 GAZETTE man called on
Col. james Akin, sssi.tant superinten-
dent of the Petite Express Company,
who had come over from Dallas, and pu.
the question to him direct.
LESS thao $1,000 from u.s." said that